FAMILY TROGLODYTIDAE
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
a. A rapid churring note (P).
A loud trrr (U).
Descends in pitch, often doubled, sounds somewhat like a finger running over the teeth of a comb; often given as introductory notes to song.
Harsh rasping notes as a scolding chur, chur or chee, chee.
b. A harsh scold (P).
A harsh buzz (U).
A buzzy bishhhh.
Scold note a rapid, grating, sizzling sound (F).
c. Also gives a wining call (F).
d. Song: stuttering and gurgling; rising in a burst, falling at the end (P).
Song a hurried descending tsee-tsee, wheedle-wheedle-wheedle, widdle-widdle-widdle, sometimes ending with an upward slurred chur-whee (L).
Often begins song with two notes very similar to call "a."
Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
a. A hard kip or kip-kip (P).
A low, double tick-tick (R).
A double chimp-chimp (U).
Has a dry quality. In northwestern California, it is characteristically doubled. When excited, may string these notes together into a rattle or unmusical trill.
b. A soft rattle, suggesting Wrentit, but sharper, more drawn out.
c. Song: a rapid succession of high tinkling warbles, trills, long sustained; often ends on a very high light trill (P).
Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
a. A harsh long drawn-out buzz (U).
A rasping scold, harsh loud chattering ratchet, pdddd; louder than Wrentit's chatter.
Example 1 (given as a montone) ... example 2 (upslurred) ... example 3 (shorter, sounds 'clipped').
b. A harsh vit, vit, vit (U).
A sharp whit-whit or bsht (L).
c. A bubbly series of chips. Sometime given intermittent with the buzz call (a), example.
d. Song: variable, high opening notes, followed by lower burry notes, ending on a thin trill; sometimes suggests Song Sparrow (P).
Another rendering is swee swee cheeeeeeee (first and second notes high, last trilled) (P).
A bright sister, sweet, sweet, sweet (L).
"Spring song" consists of a few weak introductory notes followed by a descending trill (L).
Examples of songs: example 1, example 2.
Juvenile subsong or late-summer song can be given as an abbreviation of the full song. Example.
Trill of simple song as described may be confused with Dark-Eyed Junco song, except that Bewick's Wren has the introductory notes.
Calls carry under 80 m.
Marsh Wren (previously, Long-billed Marsh Wren) (Cistothorus palustris)
Lowland marshes.
a. A low tsuck (P).
Alarm call is a sharp tsuk, often doubled (N).
b. Song: reedy, gurgling, ending in a guttural rattle: cut-cut-turrrrr-ur, often at night (P).
A loud series of rapid, reedy notes and liquid rattles (N).
Song is 1-3 musical rattles on different pitches, often preceded by a faint nighthawk-like buzz, 10-16/min (R).
FAMILY MUSCICAPIDAE
Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
a. A soft prr (P).
A prolonged dry "growling" (U).
A low, rattlelike, churring noise (F). A chatter or scold; a ratchety sound.
b. Song (heard year-round): staccato ringing notes on one pitch; starting deliberately and running into a trill. Yip--yip--yip-yip-yip-yip-ytr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tr-r-r-r-r-r (P).
Above represents male's song. Female song consists of just the initial untrilled single notes, often at 3/4 second intervals, speeding toward end. Speed and strength of these alternate songs is variable.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
a. A loud tyeep (P).
b. Above note sometimes given as introductory note, such as: tyeep wisk-wisk-wisk.
c. A tut-tut-tut (P).
A fast chuck-chuck.
d. A chattering, guttural series of wisk notes.
Example 1, example 2, example 3 with two birds calling on slightly different pitches.
e. A loud thin hiss (feeding call of young) (L).
f. A wisking see-lip (U).
Sometimes heard only as sseet; often given in flight; suggests Cedar Waxwing call, but individual notes distinct and not slurred together into a series.
g. Song: a clear caroling; short phrases, rising and falling, often long continued (P).
Cheerily-cheery-cheerily-cheery (F).
A series of 6-10 whistled phrases of 3-4 notes, 5-20/min (R).
Example 1, example 2, example 3.Notes have a clear, almost bell-like tonal quality.
A variety of combinations of the above calls may be heard.
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)
a. A low, heavy kyup, may be confused with Hermit Thrush chuck note.
A soft took (N).
A low cherk (L).
b. A soft buzz (U).
c. Drawn-out whistled hums similar to song, but of shorter duration, less emphatic, less of a musical quality; usually given singly, not in a series. Sometimes these are "slower" and so distinguishable as trills rather than single long notes.
d. A loud, harsh, unmusical rattle given when disturbed at nest site.
e. Song: a long, eerie, quavering whistled note, followed, after a pause, by one on a lower or higher pitch (P).
A simultaneous whistle and hum.
Call "c" and song carry far, up to 200-250 m. Call "a" carries poorly, 30 m or less.
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
a. A low chuck (P,L)
Very similar to Varied Thrush note; often doubled, chuck-chuck.
b. A scolding tuk-tuk-tuk (P).
c. A harsh pay (P).
d. A nasal wheeee, rising in pitch like Pine Siskin.
Whreeee; suggests Rufous-Sided Towhee, but shriller, with a double tone quality.
A whistled chee (L).
e. Song: clear, ethereal, and flutelike; 3 or 4 phrases on different pitch levels, each preceded by a long introductory note; a deliberate pause between each phrase (P,R).
First note longest and lowest (F).
Call "a" carries poorly, 30 m or less.
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
a. A whit (P).
Short, sharp; whistled, but with a "rushing air" quality.
b. A clear whistled note, similar to "a" above, but louder, much more drawn out; slightly rising in inflection.
A whistled whit-whee (L).
c. Short pik calls.
d. Migrants at night: a short heep (P) or queep (F).
A querulous quirt (L).
e. Also a chatter (not common).
f. Song: melodious, breezy, flutelike phrases, distinguished by tendency of each phrase to climb upward (P,R).
Upward-rolling series of flutelike phrases, like wip-poor- wil-wil-eez-zee-zee (F).
A melodious series of flutelike notes, as wher-wher, wheelia, wheelia, wheelia; the two introductory notes are on the same pitch, but each of the following phrases climbs upward (L).
Call "a" travels about 50-80 m; "b" farther, perhaps 100-120 m.
Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)
a. A sharp eek (P).
A single piping note (R).
A single metallic keek (L).
Bell-like heep.
Suggests Northern Pygmy-Owl or Mountain Quail, but "pitch-piped;" weaker, higher pitched than Pygmy-Owl; sometimes repeated at 30-40/min.
b. Song: long a warbled, suggesting Black-Headed Grosbeak, but more rapid (P).
Phrases of song run together; includes more buzzes and trills than Black-Headed Grosbeak; and not as fast as Purple Finch song.
Compare with songs of Black-Headed Grosbeak and Purple Finch.
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
a. A short pew or mew (P).
A mild whistled pew, pew, pew (L).
Phew (U).
A mellow few.
Slightly descending in pitch; quick, abbreviated, with a "springy" quality; often given in flight.
b. A hard chattering note (P).
A hard snapping note (L).
c. A harsh chuck (U,F).
Often given in flight (F).
d. Song: a warble (F).
Call note "a" extended to few few fawee (N).
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
a. Birds in winter flocks give unmusical veer or terrr notes (F).
b. A thin few (N).
A soft low pew or chur (L).
c. A low, warbled tru-lee (N).
d. Song: infrequently heard short warble (F).
A short, clear, caroling warble, given mostly in the early morning (L).